A scant 144 years ago today, during the Franco-Prussian War, the battle of Loigny et Poupry took place. This can be seen as a highwater mark of the French efforts to break the siege of Paris. Here I offer some musings on the battle itself, and on its excellent potential as an interesting wargame.
It is the first large action of the republican phase: 90,000 French taking on 35,000 Germans. As a game for a short club night, it has the great virtues that the terrain is relatively flat and open, and therefore quick to set up and take down, plus the troops are reasonably few and most start off-table, so don't need a long time for initial deployment. As both sides have to rush troops towards objectives from various directions, there's plenty of maneuver and action.
My version of this battle went through a couple of iterations. Initially I limited it to just the action on 2 December. But of course, the preliminary action on the evening of 1 December importantly shaped the next day and was easy to include, so I added that and a Night Interval. Then the victory conditions also changed significantly. Since the battle was about the French trying to push north towards Paris, initially I made victory depend on how many French units could get within 6" or 12" of two northern exits. But as 6" or 12" semicircles around a road exit can be a bit ambiguous and debatable, compared with holding villages or chateaux, I reverted to a conventional "hold the line" approach and made objectives of Loigny, Poupry, and the village of Lumeau in between.
The armies are very different from the Imperial phase. The Germans have learned some hard lessons so I rated them mostly as veteran and good at skirmishing, with plenty of competent generals. Half the German force is comprised of Bavarians, which is always nice to leaven the dark Prussian blue.
Their French opponents have changed from the Imperial (excellent troops, badly commanded) to the republican (lots of poorly trained and equipped levies, but with some decent generals). But they too have a few colourful units alongside the mass of garde mobile. They have a smattering of zouaves and turcos, and some naval infantry and artillery. The highlights, though, are the Foreign Legion and the "volontaires de l'ouest" – the former Papal Zouaves.
When we have gamed this battle, a lot has depended upon the opening moves. If the French can get their artillery set up, they can bring a lot of fire against the Bavarians early on, and get themselves a head start towards Loigny. Conversely, if the Bavarians can disrupt the French as they arrive, they can buy valuable time for their own reinforcements.
The next few turns see the Germans desperately trying to form a line, while the French are putting pressure on both ends of it. Variations on the theme are possible, and outflanking manouevres have been attempted in the past, as has concentration in the centre. Typically the Foreign Legion is committed to taking and holding Poupry, on the French right, where it can be difficult for the Germans to winkle out. The gallant Papal Zouaves arrive near the end, with just enough time to hurl themselves at Loigny or Lumeau, in a glorious charge which may or may not bring them victory. Whatever happens, it won't be a dull game.
Chris
Bloody Big BATTLES!
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Scenario map:
FPW7 Loigny Poupry map by
bbbchrisp, on Flickr
PDF of my map is available from the files of the BBB Yahoo group here:
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Loigny / Poupry: Foreign Legion (represented by Turcos) seize Poupry, but the Germans hang on to Lumeau (middle distance) and Loigny (background, right). Excuse the non-wintry green terrain:
21 Loigny / Poupry by
bbbchrisp, on Flickr
now paints and bases the model.
